DictionaryAI

request

ri-KWEST/ɹɪˈkwɛst/

Verbrequests, requesting, requested

Noun pluralrequests

7 meanings of request

Practice

  1. 1
    ask forverbtransitive
    To ask, politely or formally, for something or for someone to do something.

    Guests may request extra towels at the front desk.

    He requested a copy of the report from the archive.

    UsageRequest something (not incorrect: request for it), someone to do it, or that it be done: guests are requested to remain seated.

  2. 2
    askingnouncountable or uncountable
    The act or instance of asking for something.

    The documents were released at the lawyer's request.

    Refreshments will be provided on request during the event.

    UsageAt someone's request when the asker is named; on request when not: available on request.

    Similarasking

  3. 3
    nouncountable
    A formal message in which someone asks for something.

    The agency received a formal request for the documents.

    Her request for funding was approved by the board.

    UsageUsually a request for something: a request for funding; you make, submit or grant a request.

    Similarpetition

  4. 4
    network messagenouncountable
    A message sent across a network to a server, typically asking it to return data or perform an action.

    The browser sends a request to the server each time you open a page.

    The server logged thousands of requests during the outage.

    Similarquery, call

    Oppositeresponse

    Note

    In networking, a request is one half of a pair: the client sends it, and the server answers. The answer is not always the data asked for. The server may return an error instead, as when it returns a 404 to an HTTP request. The usual verbs are send, make and handle, and the protocol often comes first, as in HTTP request.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Requests and responses form a client–server exchange: the client sends requests and the server sends responses. rfc-editor.org
    • A server can return an error response instead of the requested data, including HTTP status 404. rfc-editor.org

Less common meanings

  1. 5
    nounobsolete
    The thing that is asked for or sought, as opposed to the act of asking.
    He gave them their request.
    1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version

    Similarwish

    Note

    Read the King James Bible of 1611 with this sense in mind. "He gave them their request" means he gave them the thing they had asked for, with request naming the thing wanted rather than the act of asking. The word is obsolete in this meaning. In older texts, take it as the object wanted, unlike the act of asking, which is the sense modern readers expect.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
    • The quotation occurs in the King James Bible, at Psalm 106:15. en.wikisource.org
    • The quotation exemplifies the obsolete sense 'that which is requested'. en.wiktionary.org
    • Giving them what they requested also amounts to granting their petition; the distinction concerns what the noun names. classic.net.bible.org
  2. 6
    song asked fornouncountable
    A song or other piece of music that a listener asks to have played, whether by a band, a DJ, or a radio station.

    Our next request goes out to Maria, who called in from her car.

    The pianist in the hotel bar happily takes requests from guests.

    UsageMusicians and DJs take requests, and on the radio a song can go out to someone.

  3. 7
    demandnoununcountable
    The condition of being in demand or sought after.

    Similardemand

    Note

    This sense lives in a single phrase: in request, often strengthened to much or great. William Temple writes in 1690 of ages "when Knowledge and Fame were in as great Request." It stays close to the Latin root, quaerō, "I seek": what is in request is sought. Its synonym demand forms the same phrase, in demand, which is the safer modern choice.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • William Temple used the quoted wording in his essay Upon the Ancient and Modern Learning. en.wiktionary.org
    • The essay containing the quotation was first published in 1690. uni-muenster.de
    • Latin quaerō means 'I seek' and is an ancestral root of request. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of request apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

This word came through Middle English from Old French 'requeste' (modern French 'requête'), from Vulgar Latin '*requaesita' and Latin 'requīsīta', the past participle of 'requīrō' ('to require, ask'). That verb combines 're-' with 'quaerō' ('I seek'), which is of uncertain origin but possibly traces back to Proto-Indo-European '*kʷeh₂-' ('to acquire').

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

  • Request came through Middle English from Old French requeste, corresponding to modern French requête. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old French requeste derives from reconstructed Vulgar Latin *requaesita and Latin requīsīta. en.wiktionary.org
  • Requīsīta is a feminine form of the past participle of requīrō. en.wiktionary.org
  • Requīrō can mean 'require, ask'. en.wiktionary.org
  • Requīrō combines re- with quaerō. en.wiktionary.org
  • Quaerō means 'I seek'. en.wiktionary.org
  • The origin of quaerō is uncertain, with derivation from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- meaning 'to acquire' proposed. en.wiktionary.org